Bucks announce firing of coach Mike Budenholzer

The Bucks have fired coach Mike Budenholzer following the team’s collapse in the first round of the playoffs, the team announced.

The Bucks finished with the best record in the NBA, but were upset by the Heat, who entered the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe suggested last week that the Bucks could indeed decide to part ways with Budenholzer.

Milwaukee became just the third No. 1 overall seed to lose in the first round of the playoffs since the NBA instituted a best-of-seven format in 2003.

“There’s some losses for which there’s just no going back,” Lowe said on The Lowe Post podcast, via HoopsHype. “You cannot come back to the same team, and the Bucks cannot come back the same team from this.

“League insiders — you don’t really have to be an insider — but league insiders are extremely skeptical that Mike Budenholzer can return as head coach of the Bucks after this. He has, according to (ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski), his last extension, which happened after they won the title, runs through the ’24–25 season, so he has two years left. I just don’t see anyone coming back from it. It’s just logic. … I think the league insiders are going to be right. I just don’t see any other way.”

The Bucks announce the dismissal of Mike Budenholzer in the following club statement:

More NBA from me: https://t.co/LGN9cVpeGP pic.twitter.com/cvw5wcG1OO

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 4, 2023

The Bucks finished the 58-24 for the NBA’s best overall record, but looked disjointed against the Heat. Part of that may have been the result of the ailing lower back experienced by star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

But this is the NBA, and it is the coach who is often the easy scapegoat in these situations. That proved to be bad news for Budenholzer.